title: Serum cholesterol is a significant and independent mortality predictor in liver cirrhosis patients.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Accurate assessment of cirrhotic patient's prognosis is essential for decisions regarding the course of treatment. Therefore we aimed to confirm and quantify the predictive value of serum cholesterol and serum triglycerides in liver cirrhosis patients.
  
  
  METHODS
  We performed a retrospective observational cohort study on consecutive patients with liver cirrhosis (n = 191). Relevant clinical and laboratory variables were obtained from patients' charts and patients were followed for two months. Mortality was the main outcome.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Thirty-eight patients died in the follow-up period. Significant difference was observed in the level of total serum cholesterol between surviving and deceased patients (2.27 ± 1.02 mmol/L vs. 2.97 ± 1.00 mmol/L, P < 0.0001 respectively). Cholesterol was confirmed as a significant predictor of mortality in univariate logistic regression analysis, and independent predictor beside bilirubin, creatinine and MELD score in multivariate logistic regression analysis. Addition of serum cholesterol level to a prognostic model based on total bilirubin, creatinine and INR increased its accuracy by 4%. Adding cholesterol to the MELD score improved prediction accuracy by 3%. There was no significant difference in serum levels of triglycerides between surviving and deceased patients.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Serum cholesterol is a routinely measured parameter, which has independent prognostic value in patients with liver cirrhosis.
authors.affiliation: 1st Department of Internal Medicine, Pavol Jozef Šafárik University Kosice, Trieda SNP 1, Košice, Slovakia, 04001.
authors.forename: Martin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Janičko
authors.forename: Eduard
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Veselíny
authors.forename: Dušan
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Leško
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Jarčuška
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D019540:Area Under Curve; D001663:Bilirubin / Q000097:blood; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D002784:Cholesterol / Q000097:blood*; D003404:Creatinine / Q000097:blood; D006801:Humans; D019934:International Normalized Ratio; D008103:Liver Cirrhosis / Q000097:blood* / Q000401:mortality*; D008111:Liver Function Tests; D016015:Logistic Models; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D011379:Prognosis; D012372:ROC Curve; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D013997:Time Factors; D014280:Triglycerides / Q000097:blood; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D014280:Triglycerides; D002784:Cholesterol; D003404:Creatinine; D001663:Bilirubin